In light of the recent decision of a grand jury in the matter of the death of David Josiah Lawson, some clarification may be in order. The criminal grand jury investigating the death of Mr. Lawson is in no way connected to the civil grand jury.

There has been some commentary in the news and social media that has some people attributing names of civil grand jury members as if they were part of the panel that found insufficient evidence to charge an individual in this matter. This is inaccurate. Grand jury members listed on the county website are not the ones included in the Lawson matter.

Criminal grand juries are selected by the court upon a request by the District Attorney and this is a process seldom used in Humboldt County. On the other hand, civil grand juries serve for a full year at a time and are selected from a pool of applicants for those positions. They investigate governmental issues and create reports on an annual basis.

For additional information, you may contact the Humboldt County Chapter of the California Grand Jurors Association at hcccgja@gmail.com or leave a message at 707-502-2168.